
In 1977, based on the VT 627, the German Deutsche Bundesbahn DB ordered five test vehicles of the four-axle catenary inspection rail car 704. The four-axle vehicles, classed as BR 704, had a diesel-hydraulic power transmission. Propulsion was initially provided by two identical, independent drive systems with Deutz twelve-cylinder diesel engines, one of which was replaced by a more modern and lower-emission Deutz engine from 1986 onwards. The 140 km/h four-axle vehicles were intended to replace more…

The BR 119 (since 1990 BR 219) had been developed by Rumanian manufacturer „Lokomotivfabrik 23. August“ Bukarest as two motor diesel locomotive for the GDR state railway DR . The two traction motors delivered 1350 HP at 1500 rpm each and enabled the loco to reach a maximum speed of 120 km/h. For the use also on branch lines the six axle loco has a load per axle of 16 tons only. As the motors had been unreliable, the DR interchanged them with turbo charged 12 KVD motors of V180/BR 118 in the more…

The BR 119 (since 1990 BR 219) had been developed by Rumanian manufacturer „Lokomotivfabrik 23. August“ Bukarest as two motor diesel locomotive for the GDR state railway DR . The two traction motors delivered 1350 HP at 1500 rpm each and enabled the loco to reach a maximum speed of 120 km/h. For the use also on branch lines the six axle loco has a load per axle of 16 tons only. As the motors had been unreliable, the DR interchanged them with turbo charged 12 KVD motors of V180/BR 118 in the more…

For heavy freight service East German Deutsche Reichsbahn DR ordered 378 samples of diesel electric locos V200 (later BR 120, from 1990 on classified as BR 220). The 14D40 2-stroke prime mover develops 1471 kW at 750 rpm. Maximum speed was 100 km/h. As the locos were very loud people nick-named them Taigadrum.
Different starting processes can be selected with F1:
1x press button = warm start / press button 2x = false start / press button 3x = cold start
Heavy load operation:
F5 - more…

The most famous East German diesel loco is the 132. The six axle diesel electric loco is nicknamed “Ludmilla” by train fans. 709 samples of the 3000 HP locos had been delivered by Lokomotivfabrik Woroschilowgrad in Lugansk (Soviet Union today Ukraine) between 1973 and 1983 to the In the late 1960s the railway of the German Democratic Republic (DR) ordered successors for their V200 class. The new class should have an electric heating to pull also passenger trains. The first two series (class 130 more…

Siemens/Krauss-Maffei developed a four-system electric loco on their Eurosprinter platform. Between 2003 and 2005 more than 150 samples left Munich factory. The four-axle loco develops 6400 kW and reaches a maximum speed of 140 km/h. German State Railway DB ordered 100 samples, MRCE another 45. Equipment for 1,5 kV and 3 kV DC enables the locos to operate in nearly any European country. Because of their moderate maximum speed the locos are used in heavy freight service mainly, but some can be more…

In 1970 the German DB built eight four axle diesel locomotives class 210 for heavy passenger service. The locos base on famous dieselhydraulic V160 series and reach a maximum speed of 160 km/h. The 210 had a MTU MA 12 V 956 TB 10 traction diesel motor and a separately shifted Avco Lycoming licensed gas turbine T 53-L 13. After two heavy defectives DB decided in 1978 to dismount the gas turbines. Till 2006 the locos were used as standard 218 and with the numbers 218 901-908.

After at least 15 years of hard service, many TB11 12-cylinder 218 series diesel engines were coming to the end of their useful life. From 1996, MTU switched the production of locomotive diesel motors to the Type 4000, which was available with eight, twelve and 16 cylinders and was much more compact than the massive TB10 and TB11. In the 218, the 16-cylinder MTU 16V 4000 R40 and R41 was used for repowering, of which DB AG ordered 80 units. The engines are set for an output of 2682 hp at 1800 more…

In 1965 German DB ordered the first diesel hydraulic locomotive with additional gas turbine power. The V169 001 delivered 3200 HP and reached a maximum speed of 130 km/h. The gas turbine worked automatically when the engineer activated the booster notch while the diesel motor works in (highest) notch 15. In 1974 after around 9 years in heavy passenger service the now called 219 001 had a defective gas turbine so DB dismounted this booster and used the loco for 3 additional years.